Saturday, March 25, 2006

Writing History with an Unstable Reality

UCLA is advancing to its 16th Final Four after dominating the inside game, defeating Memphis, and...

Wait a minute...no, UCLA is advancing to its 15th Final Four according to NCAA records.

But no, add it up...

What's going on here?

Well, the Bruins are actually one of the final four teams left in the NCAA tournament for the 16th time. However, according to the NCAA records, the 1980 Bruins had vacated their appearance in the Final Four.

In the realm of "reality," the Bruins will be playing in their 16th Final Four. In the world of official record, in fact in the "history" of the NCAA, the Bruins will be one of the final four teams for a 15th time.

So you tell me: are the Bruins appearing in their 15th Final Four, or 16th? Who gets to decide what is "real"?

Who gets to decide what is "truth"? Because the Bruins did appear in the Final Four in 1980...only they didn't.

In this case, there is no truth. There is no concrete reality, no stable existence. We create our history. We essentially decide what is true and real.

3 comments:

  1. Just like the Gophers who we watched in a final four game against Kentucky actually were not there....at least according to the records.

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  2. And Miles Tarver wrote all of his own papers.

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  3. Anonymous4:15 PM

    I would argue that in this situation, there is still truth. They are appearing for the 16th time. The team is penalized by having one appearance not count on official records, but it still happened, and it is documented and remembered as such. They have not exactly been vaporized, like in 1984 (the novel, not the year).
    But you bring up an interesting point about truth and accepted truth and the ability of those in power to manipulate both.

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